New Mexico State University

Awards Issued Prior to January 20, 2025, Were Funded Under Previous Administrations and May Not Reflect the Priorities and Policies of the Current Administration. River Valleys and Their Contributing Headwater Areas in the Western Us Are Key Focal Points of Irrigated Agriculture Natural Resources-connected Communities River and Riparian Ecosystems and Local Economies That Have All Faced New Interrelated Water Scarcity Challenges in the Last Few Decades. Temperature Increases Driven by Climate Change Have Increased Atmospheric Evaporative Demand by 15-20% Since 1980 Causing Crops and Wildland Plants to Need More Water and Causing More Evaporation From Lakes and Streams. Heat Drought Has Reduced Snowmelt Runoff by 20% or More Since the 1970S and Streamflow Has Further Declined Since 2002 Through the Onset of Meteorological Drought With Less Precipitation. More Groundwater Pumping to Compensate for Less Surface Water Is Causing Aquifer Water Tables to Decline. Surface Waters and Associated Groundwaters Are Becoming Increasingly Disconnected Leading to Drying Rivers Declining Acres of Agricultural Production Aquatic Ecosystem Decline and Reduced Streamside Riparian Areas That Support Life Cycle Phases of 85% of Terrestrial Fauna. Water Availability Challenges Have Exacerbated Tensions Between Different Water User Groups and Have Upended Longstanding Collaborative Water Management Approaches. Because These Problems Are Interconnected There Is an Opportunity to Identify the Key Influencing Drivers and Alter These Levers of Change to Move Toward More Resilient Systems.to Maintain Thriving Agriculture With Less Water While Providing Sustainable River-connected Groundwater Storage and Supporting Community Viability and Ecosystem Hea­­lth This Project Helps Build Resilient Agriculture-water-community Systems (rawcs). the Project Is Founded on the Collective Experiences of Community Members Researchers and Extension Specialists From Team Member Projects in Three River Basins That Are Representative of the Western Us: the Rio Grande Basin the Snake River Basin and the Truckee-carson River System. the TEAM'S Experience at the Forefront of Applied Water Science Provides Guidance for This Project to Develop Resilient Water Resources to Support All Water Uses. We Utilize a Community-empowering Engagement Approach in Which Community Members Are Co-experts in Developing Solutions. the Research Follows a Targeted System Science Methodology That Identifies Key Drivers and Interactions Within the Agricultural Water and Community Systems. Some of the Key Resilience Practices Are Already Identified and Will Be Investigated for Local Applicability Such as: Alternative Low Water Use High Value Crops Watershed Restoration to Reduce Flooding and Enhance Groundwater Recharge Dissemination to Stakeholders of the Importance of Surface Water Groundwater Connectivity and Community Involvement in Identifying Needed Water Information. the Communities Will Provide Input to Direct the Development of System-science Modeling-based Tools That Incorporate Field Measurements and Information From Earth-observing Satellites to Develop Future Resilience Scenarios. Education and Extension Will Disseminate the Science to Students and Stakeholders in Each Project Basin and State. in Order to Expand From Our Projects to the Scale of the Western Us We Will Implement the Western Water Network (WWN) to Pursue the Audacious Objective of Connecting Stakeholders Researchers Educators and Policy Makers Across the Entire West.the Products From This Project Are Designed to Be Individually Straightforward and Cumulatively Transformative for Agricultural River Valleys in the Western Us. We Will Build a Rawcs Center of Excellence (COE) as a Project Hub With Virtual Nodes to Effectively Gather and Distribute Multiple Objective-guided Products Including: 1) Community Engagement Through on Site Liaisons to Guide Research Priorities Support Strategic Management Actions and Build Long-term Effective Relationships Between Stakeholders and Researchers as Well as Upstream and Downstream Communities; 2) Research for Farm-scale Agricultural Water Efficiency and Profitability Approaches Systems-based Rawcs Models and Decision Tools and Pathways to Climate Resilience and Balanced Water Budgets Sharable by Stakeholders Researchers and Decisionmakers and Scalable From Local Communities to the Broader Region; 3) Extension of the Cutting-edge Research-based Knowledge to Our Project Communities and the Larger Western Us Audience; 4) Education Including Traditional Campus Based and Onsite Programs as Well as Videos Water Technician Training and an Interactive Water Management Game; 5) the WWN a Network of Networks to Share Connect and Communicate Knowledge and Strategies for Water for Agriculture Water Resilience Eco-hydrologic Approaches and Agro-economic Policy. the Rawcs Coe Produces Key Outcomes: Resilient Agricultural Production With Less Water Balanced Surface Water and Groundwater Systems and Resilient Water Agriculture and Natural Resources Community Systems.